Quiet, But Not Silent
by The Awkward Lizard
Summary: How can feelings like this be expressed without language? Takes place after Mission 45.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This will be my new story I am working on. It is a Metal Gear Solid V fanfic, so keep that in mind. I will hopefully be more active with this than my previous stories.**


	2. A Quiet Exit

**Alright, this story is going to** **take** **place after mission 45 of MGSV, but this chapter will be a recap. This will contain major spoilers, so be careful!**

* * *

As her vision slowly returned to her, the suffocating winds of the sandstorm eased up. Visibility was still extremely low, but she was no longer deprived of air. She noticed the comforting hand draped around her was no longer there. She rose to a crouching position, and surveyed the surroundings. The first thing that became apparent was the body of her superior laying half-conscious before her. The second, even more terrifying one were the two dead snakes nearby. One was clearly shot to death, most likely done by the gaurd that was leering dangerously close earlier. The other was lying close to her boss, with its jaw unhinged as if its neck was forced to break. She quickly realized what had happened, and started to search for wounds on her CO. There were two punctures in his suit, obviously from the snake. She opened up the suit where the wounds were, desperately hoping it wasn't venomous. The irony was lost on her when she realized Venom Snake had been bitten by a venomous snake, as she was overwhelmed with fear for her commander.

The nearby iDroid sprung to life with static, "This is Peqoad, do you read me?! This is Peqoad, Ahab, what is your position?! We can't stick around any longer! Talk to me Boss." She quickly grabbed the device, and prayed that the pilot was bilingual.

"The Boss is here! Hurry!", she shouted in a language the pilot couldn't understand.

"Ahab, we cannot copy your transmission! Repeat!" She continuously tried in vain to speak with the pilot, but to no avail. "We can't stick around any longer! We have zero visibility! Cutting transmission.", the pilot shouted in a frustrated tone. As the feedback on the device ended, she threw herself over her boss in a fit of anger. She knew what she had to do. It terrified her to think of, but she knew only one person could walk out of this with a chance, and she wanted it to be him. She picked up the iDroid, and glanced at him again. She could see he was shaking his head in protest, but she had to do it. Quiet would have to break her namesake.

"The Boss is with me.", her throat burned as she spoke. She could feel the parasites activating, preparing to destroy their host. She guided the pilot through the viscous weather, and when the helicopter was close enough to land, she gave one last meaningful glance to him, and left. A Quiet Exit.


	3. A Slim Chance

The Old Diné looked closely at the specimen as it moved about on the slide. He recorded the small changes of its behavior as they occurred. He wasn't trying to reach any specific conclusion this time, he was just trying to better understand the parasites. Code Talker shut off the microscope and turned around in his chair as he heard the door to his lab open. Code Talker assumed all did not go well based on the sullen look on Snake's face. He stood in silence in the doorway before speaking up, "If we were to give her the Wolbachia treatment now, could there still be a chance?"

"It is impossible to say for sure. Quiet is a special case. The fact that her lungs are destroyed will make it harder for the parasites to kill her, which gives you more time to find her...assuming you can. But even if we do secure her and give her the treatment, the Wolbachia may target her Skull Parasites, which would kill her. Even then, it may already be too progressed to stop it."

"But there's a chance?", Snake said, seemingly ignoring all the Old Diné had just said.

"Yes...but a very slim one."

Snake grunted in frustration and clenched his bionic fist. He turned on his heels, but before he left, he uttered a command, "Have a specimen of Wolbachia ready when I get back."

* * *

The silence in the ACC was not the same without her. The memories floated in and out of his head, the time they played in the rain, the day Mother Base celebrated his birthday, and she lit his cigar with her rifle. Small things he didn't think he would miss, how he would visit her cell every time he returned to the base, the things she would do if she caught him staring in the ACC. Snake pulled his iDroid out and searched through the tapes until he found the one she left him. He hit the play button and let the sound of her voice run through his ears. Once the tape was finished, he moved to his personal recordings, and found the tape of her humming. Snake hit the loop option and hit play. The noise was so simple, yet it spoke volumes about her. It showed that language wasn't her only way of communicating. Snake knew this first hand, as the words they spoke together were silent.

Eventually, the tune in his ears lulled him to sleep, and he remained this way until the helicopter reached its destination. "Boss, we're here." Peqoad's voice shook him awake, and he stepped out of the helicopter. Snake looked around the ruins, hoping this would be the first place she came.

* * *

 **Sorry about the short chapters, I plan on making them longer later in the story. Let me know what you guys think of the story so far!**


	4. Strong Lead

He raised the palm of his hand to the pilot, telling him to wait until Snake came back to leave. This wouldn't take long at all, the ruins were a small area. He wouldn't stop searching here though, he would comb through every inch of Afghanistan if he had to. He took a few steps forward, scanning the environment. The ruins were mostly deserted, save for a few animals. The threat of a sniper who couldn't be beat scared most people off, and they never bothered to come back. Snake replayed the events of that day in his head. He remembered holding the pistol to her, Miller shouting that she was a Skull, that she couldn't be trusted. Ocelot scolded Miller, telling Snake she could be of value. He remembered nearly squeezing the trigger, his finger pressing against it. He thought she needed to die, she had killed so many in the hospital, and attacked Snake himself. Yet, at the same time, there was something about her. Something Snake felt he couldn't let go. As he began to lower the gun, Miller screamed about how she deserved death. Snake holstered his gun, making his final decision. Then, she took a gun to herself. Fear struck him, and he wrenched the gun from her hand, causing her to finally submit.

He quickly snapped back to reality and began searching. He slipped on his NV goggles, trying to find her heat signature. He searched every crevice, every structure, no small mark went unnoticed. Every time he found something out of place, hope rose, until he realized it was some animal that changed things. Eventually he started to become anxious, rechecking structures, looking at the surrounding areas with his binoculars. As each minute passed by, his hope dwindled. As Snake looked through the last ruined structure for the third time, he finally accepted it. She wasn't here. Venom slammed his bionic fist on a nearby column in a fit of rage. He was sure she would come here, it was how she would be found. It was then that Venom thought of a new possibility, and accepted the reality of another one. The first, was that she might not want to be found. Quiet could fear for the safety of Mother Base, and most likely, Snake. She could be staying away to prevent further infection. The second possibility was one that he did not want to think of.

Maybe she was already dead. Venom cringed at the thought. What if she had died alone in the desert? He didn't want her to die saving him, he didn't want her to go at all. Maybe this was her way of making up for past actions? Snake didn't care, he wouldn't stop looking for her. Not even if all he found was a body. Venom needed her. He shook this thought from his mind and moved back towards Pequod, thinking of another place she could be at.

* * *

He slammed the door to the helicopter shut for the third time. The sun was beginning to creep up over the horizon. He put his face in his palms, racking his mind to think of where she could possibly be. He couldn't stop searching, couldn't abandon her. But at the same time, he couldn't even get a small lead to her location. Still, he opened his iDroid menu, trying to decide where to go next. Suddenly, his radio sprang to life, "Boss, the Intel team has got a lead. I'm updating your iDroid.", Ocelot spoke. Sure enough, a yellow objective marker popped up on the display. Snake quickly set the the LZ nearby the marker, which was close to the Mountain Relay Base.

As the helicopter drew near, his radio came on again, "Boss, the Intel report says there was a small firefight nearby the base. One of our boys among enemy ranks says one of the snipers spotted Quiet. I suppose she's become famous enough to be easily noticed. The sniper was said to have severely wounded her, and the soldiers are conducting a search now. I doubt she has much time, considering her conditions."

Then, Miller cut in, "Snake, you shouldn't do this. You don't owe her anything, she tried to kill you before any of this. You're even, and if you bring her back to base, the infection could spread. Do you remember what happened at the Quarantine Platform? You can't let that happen again, Snake." The radio cut out, and the helicopter arrived at the LZ. "Get her back, Boss!", Pequod said, as Snake exited the chopper. Snake slipped on his binoculars, getting an idea of the security of the base. There were 5 guards at the base itself, one at the bottom of the bridge, two at the start of it, and two at the cluster of buildings. The rest were most likely searching the area for Quiet. Snake moved forward, drawing his tranq pistol. He put the two guards at the front of the bridge to sleep, giving him room to move into the rock structures to the left of the bridge, where Quiet most likely tried to escape over. He made his way up the rocks, grabbing hold of ledges to pull himself up.

Eventually, he made it to the top and saw the search team moving through the roads on the other side of the small structure. Snake counted the troops, seven total, including a sniper and his spotter. Snake climbed down the other side of the structure, coming down into the road. As he began to close in on the team, he overheard one on the radio, and Snake's heart sank as he heard the soldier speak, "CP, this is Zulu 2, I have a strong lead on the sniper woman, a blood trail."


	5. Reunited

He could see the soldiers stray from the road and into the nearby rocks. He couldn't let them get to her. Fear seized him and Snake quickly took out his silenced tranq rifle and took aim at the spotter on the top of the cliff. Pulling the trigger, he quickly ejected the cartridge and focused on the sniper himself. The blinding red light shined into the scope, causing Venom to quickly duck behind a rock. Swinging around to the other side, he took down the sniper. Snake ran down the road, attempting to gain on the search team. As he came up on the group, he noticed most of them had split up to cover more ground, save for two who were staying near each other. He noticed the blood trail that had been mentioned, and he also saw that it abruptly ended. Good, she had realized her mistake and covered up her tracks.

Snake quickly put a nearby troop in a CQC hold, squeezing his throat until he fell unconscious. Then, as he moved on to the next soldier, what he heard made his skin crawl. Five shots had been fired, and at least two of them hit the mark. The scream echoing throughout the area had indicated this. First fear came, fear for her, then anger overwhelmed him. He couldn't let her slip through his fingers, not this time. Snake rushed forward, delivering a devastating punch from his bionic arm to the nearby soldier. The leader of the search team shouted into his radio, telling how he engaged the sniper. As another unit member fell asleep from the tranqs, Snake came up on the area where the screams came from. The final two members of the search team had their rifles trained on the area ahead. Snake tranqed one, then the other.

Relief almost came over Venom, until he remembered she was still hurt. Putting away his pistol, Snake saw the marks on the rock. Three bullet marks and blood splatters. He followed the trail again, quickly this time. Eventually he noticed her, laying in the distance. Sprinting forward, he came to her side. She was unconscious and her wounds weren't healing, of which there were two shots on her middle torso and one on her arm. Upon flipping her over so that she lay on her back, Snake saw how pale she was. There were no growths on her, as the parasites had no lungs to work with, implying they had found some other way. Snake slung her over his shoulder, and called in a helicopter. "Snake.", Miller's voice rang over the radio. "You cannot bring her back here! She is infected, our men will die! Are you trying to get them killed?!"

"We'll bring her to the Quarantine Platform.", Venom responded, gritting his teeth.

"Even if we do, we'll need a team to monitor her and give the medical treatment. We know nothing about the strain she's infected with, it could spread through simply being around the infected, then triggered by English. Hell, it could override the Wolbachia completely. Are you really going to risk our men for her!?"

"She's one of us, Miller.", Ocelot cut in. "Wether you like it or not, she has saved the Boss' life twice now. Hell, she probably saved all of Mother Base by leaving when she did. You can't let your hate for a dead organization corrupt your judgement any longer."

"Cipher isn't dead, especially not with her still alive."

"Are you crazy?! Listen to yourself dammit!"

"Both of you stop!", Snakes voice cut in again, "She is coming back to Mother Base. I'll watch over her, and I'll give her the treatment. I will stay on the platform for as long as I need to. Until whatever happens does. Any matters can be handled by our staf at the main base."

"Boss, no! I won't let you put-"

"It's not your decision to make, Kaz. I won't put myself in any unnecessary danger.", Snake lied through his teeth.

There was a long pause before anything else was said, "Okay. Fine. Just don't lose yourself, Snake."

Venom's radio cut out and he put Quiet on the helicopter with him and shut the door.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open, and her first thought was that she had been captured. It didn't take long to notice the inside of the helicopter, and the hands going quick at work on her wounds. She lifted her head, and saw his face. He was applying pressure to the main hole on her torso. She struggled slightly, knowing the danger of being near him. His gaze immediately switched to her face, and he noticed her eyes were opened. He put a hand to her cheek, surprising both of them at the sudden action. Snake eazed her to lie back down, continuing to tend to her wounds. Eventually, he finished, and she quickly shifted away from him, putting a hand to her own throat to show her concern. Her hand began to reach for the handle on the door. His hand grabbed her arm, and he pulled her away from the door. She wretched and squirmed, not wanting to endanger him by simply being near. He tightened his grip and pulled her close, attempting to comfort her. It worked easily, as she eventually settled down.

She leaned against him, the fatigue from the parasite preventing her from struggling. Snake put a hand on her back, soothing her. He pulled her closer, not caring about any safety precautions, and she nestled closer to him, relieved to be with him again, even if it was just for this one moment of peace. As they neared Mother Base, Snake lifted her up, and she clung to him. Venom stepped out of the chopper and carried Quiet to the inside of the Quarantine Platform. As he walked into one of the medical rooms, he was surprised to see Kaz and Ocelot standing there, along with Code Talker setting up the equipment for the Wolbachia treatment.


End file.
